PokerTableRatings

If you missed the first half of the interview with “BallCup” , be sure to read it first here. was made famous for taking $45,000 in prop bet action on whether or not he could complete the requirements to achieve SuperNova Elite status in just five months. We continue on with our exclusive interview with …

PTR: You were able to take about a week break in late August to attend your High School reunion. Did the break assist your anti-tilt behavior and stamina? Was there anyone at the reunion you talked about your SNE Challenge with?

: Yes that stretch with the reunion and Costa Rica was planned before the challenge existed. When I got back from my vacation, I basically lost for over two weeks and my game was completely shot. In theory, that break should have helped my mental stability, but clearly I lost some sort of rhythm, as I hadn’t taken that long of a break from poker in a very long time, if ever. The break also made me increase my pace when I got back, so that was another negative. Other than that, the trip was a lot of fun.

I talked about the challenge at the reunion with some friends and also with some people that I hadn’t seen since high school. My friends were supportive and interested, while the others were extremely perplexed. I tried not to get into it too much, but there was one guy that really wanted the details. “I thought online poker was illegal? “Wait you play 24 tables at a time, how is that even possible?” “How do you cash out?” “Aren’t you worried that they are going to steal your money? “Do you make money?” “I thought the house always has the edge with gambling, so I don’t get how you win money?” I’ll stop there. I don’t need to say what my answers were. Let’s just say my heads was spinning and all I could think of was the ongoing TwoPlusTwo thread titled “Why I don’t tell people I’m a professional poker player.”

PTR: In Mid-September there was some controversy regarding you and the challenge that required the attention of some judges. Could you speak to what caused the issue and how it was resolved?

: One of the guys that bet against me noticed that I might have broken the rules of my contract. The contract stated that I would be posting updates in order to keep the bettors entertained and informed throughout the challenge. There was a 72 hour stretch in which I didn’t post an extensive update. The ruling came down to whether the judges considered my un-informative post as an “update.” They did in fact declare that it would count as an update, which meant the judges ruled in my favor.

The whole thing put me under a crazy amount of stress. It was nearly unbearable. I was confident that the judges would rule in my favor due to some other statements in the contract but I let this get to me. I was happy to have it resolved and the end of the downswing which I outlined above, ended almost as soon as that issue was over.

PTR: In December you were required to play at your biggest pace and knew it would come down to the final day or two of the year to make the mark. How confident were you that you would make it and did you take any precautions (vaccinations, hire a helper, have an off-site computer ready to go if the internet went down) when the month started?

: The weird thing was that it almost felt too good to be true. To make SNE after joining PokerStars seven months after the year started just seemed like it was impossible. That being said, I had this fear throughout the entire challenge that I wouldn’t finish, even in December. It wasn’t until the last 3-4 days that I had a 99.9% feeling that I would finish. I guess the reason it felt too good to be true was because all I had to do was will my way to victory and I was pretty positive I could do that. In my head, it just didn’t add up, “Wait all I have to do is keep working hard and I got it? Where’s the ‘fine print?’”. Every time I had a low VPP day, I thought of college or high school, when I would put things off and procrastinate a little every day, until I was in too big of a hole to get out. That thought came with a lot of stress. I think the truth is, I never fell even close to being too far behind pace.

As far as precautions go, I got flu shots in November (swine and regular). I also hired my roommate Dave to be my assistant all through December. That was a huge help, since as you know, December was my highest volume. I actually didn’t have an offsite computer/internet access to go to if I had problems. Although if something were to happen in the event of a power or internet failure, I would have gone to a friend’s house at moment’s notice.

PTR: How excited were you the day before the challenge would be completed and you knew you were going to hit it for sure? Did you have anything exciting happen (champagne? party?) when you did cross the million VPP line?

: I finally started getting my dopamine rush with 3-4 days to go. Before that, I was still under a very high level of stress. You would think that I would be happy with even 10-15 days left, but that wasn’t the case since it still felt like I had a lot of playing to do in mid-December. The final day I was extremely happy though and Patsy (my girlfriend) and her friend Lisa showed up when I had only 2 VPPs left to do. There were 5-10 guys that wanted to go all in blind at a 6 max table. Obviously we weren’t blind, but we agreed pre-hand that all 6 of us would flip. So, we went to one table and we all got ready. Some of the participants were opposing bettors, friends I made on TwoPlusTwo during the challenge, and other poker players I talked with throughout the challenge. It was very fun having these guys wanting to do an all-in flip to celebrate me crossing the one million VPP line. We ended up doing 3 all-in flips, but unfortunately I didn’t win any. Of course there was beer and champagne too and we fooled around with the camera on for another 20-30 minutes after the all ins. Lisa flashed the camera which gained a lot of attention and I think there is a screenshot of it on TwoPlusTwo.

PTR: Let’s talk about what you’ve won. The SNE level is worth approximately $115,000 in cash and you also made $45,000 on the prop bet. You reported that you lost about $15,000 during the course of play. Could you break down your profits and what you’re taking from the SNE package?

: Yes, including the trip packages I choose, SNE is worth $115k. Not including the trips/tournaments it is worth about $90k. You are correct, I lost almost exactly $15k at the tables so that brings my total profit to about $145k in that stretch. My hourly was a little under $90/hour if you include everything.

PTR: You had a webcam running the entire time at your computer station, which apparently led to a few private moments being broadcast … care to share any stories about that?

: I don’t know of any private moments being broadcasted until the day I finished when Patsy and her friend showed up. Let’s just say Patsy’s friend had a few private moments on the webcam. Other than that, I am sure people saw my anger on the camera from time to time. There are some videos that were made using the webcam also, that are on the blog.

PTR: Over the course of the last six months you had a lot of people rooting for you and apparently some real haters in the poker community. What motivated you most and is there anything to take away from that kind of following?

: I can sit here and say the haters motivated me to work harder but honestly, that’s probably not the truth. I was focused to do this with or without them. As far as the people that encouraged me, that helped a lot. They didn’t only encourage me, but they had a lot of good advice when I was struggling. I remember when I asked for advice on keeping a level head on those marathon days, and the thread was flooded with responses. That kind of support is priceless.

PTR: What’s next for you in 2010? Another run at SNE or just focusing on playing solid poker? Any more prop bet action?

: I’ll be getting supernova elite again, but obviously in a much more paced fashion. I don’t intent on playing as much as I did over the last 5-6 months, ever again in my entire life. I intend on working with a coach, and improving my game to the point where I am comfortable moving up to some mid stakes no limit game (nl400-nl1000).

PTR: A lot of people have gotten to know you through the thread at TwoPlusTwo and through your blog update site. For those that have been cheering you all the way, any words for them?

: I alluded to this a little in a previous answer, but before I asked myself if I could have done this without the prop bet and thread. Without the thread, I wouldn’t have had any encouragement outside my own friends and family. With the thread, I received support, advice, and encouragement from people all over the poker community. Thank you to all those people.

PokerTableRatings.com would like the thank for continuing his extensive answers to our interview questions. We thank him for his time and wish the best for him in 2010.

Tags: BallCup, Prop bet

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 11:02 am and is filed under Featured Articles, Poker Player Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.